Every year, many safari, hunters, fishermen or other tourists are stranded on unmarked forest trails or remote transport roads, and become at a loss. They got lost.
Often people get lost because they cannot relate their position to some well-known factor, natural or otherwise, and use it as a guide. At the same time, it is also due to lack of observation and more systematic knowledge of leaving and returning to the predetermined base (such as trails, roads, rivers, high-voltage lines, streams or lakes, etc.). Just keeping one particular point in mind when traveling (such as a tent, hunter’s hut, hut, boat, car, etc.) is often part of the reason why people sometimes get lost.
The content here is to introduce some direct, walking, non-professional methods. These methods are easier and faster for survivors or lost people to orient themselves, it will take them to the nearest place to their destination, using these methods, even if you do not have a compass, map, or expertise in astronomy, you can Determine where you are.
How to avoid getting lost
Unless a fixed goal is chosen as a guide, people will get lost because of the winding roads, dense forests, The great distance can obscure the destination. To this end, you must remember the following ways to avoid getting lost:
·You must observe the surrounding terrain anytime and anywhere to determine your direction. Before you leave your tent, car, single-plank bridge, boat, etc., carefully observe the surrounding terrain, visually inspect the area as far as possible, and determine various fixed target guides on the left and right, such as mountains, cliffs, temples, large tree etc.
·Before setting out, have a clear memory of the prominent targets around your camp so that you can use them as a guide when you return.
· When you leave a road, a creek, a trail, a river, a mountain or a temple, remember which side you are leaving from and use these as your basic route.
· Remember how many streams you crossed, how many peaks, how many forks on your journey. Draw a map of the path you have traveled.
What to do if you get lost
·If you find yourself in an unfamiliar area and have trouble finding your way back to your camp, don’t tell yourself Lost, at least now either you or maybe a few minutes of confusion.
· If you suspect that you have lost your way, you should stop immediately to assess the situation, and move on blindly, the situation will be worse. Don’t panic, just sit back and relax. Take a deep breath, smoke a cigarette, chew a piece of gum, and carefully recall the houses, streams, or other geographic features you pass by to trace the route you’ve traveled. Sit quietly for a few minutes.
· When the wild traveler just finds that he has difficulty in determining his position, in general, he has not gone far and will not find his way. The trouble is that most of the lost continue to advance blindly, scrambling through the forest to make their situation worse, and some even go out of the search area entirely.
·If you have a map, check the legend first to see what each symbol represents, and to find out which area on the map you are based on. Look around for any geographic features that match the GI. Find where you were before you got lost on a map, then recall the houses, streams, or other geographic features you passed to trace the route you’ve traveled.
·View the contour lines on the map to get an idea of the surrounding terrain. Contours that are far apart from each other indicate gentle mountains, no contours indicate plains or broad ridges, and contours wrapped in fingerprints are mostly mountain mouths or valleys. According to the scale on the map, for example, the scale is 1:50,000, which means that 1 cm on the map represents the actual length of 50,000 cm (0.5 km). Use a small ruler to calculate the distance between yourself and the target. If you don’t have a pen and paper, you can use your fingers to roughly measure the distance. Generally speaking, an adult’s index finger is about 2.5 cm long from the fingertip to the first joint.
· Rotate the map so that the mark on the map is in the same direction as the geographical feature it represents, and then follow the map to choose a direction to walk to a road or a populated place.
· Check the map to see if there are any obstacles on the way, such as cliffs, wide rivers, etc. If so, find another route to go around. Use the same geographic features on the map as the field as a guide. Pay attention to the scenery on both sides as you move forward, and refer to the map to estimate how far you have gone.
Get lost in the wind and rain for self-help
·If you have a life support bag (a waterproof plastic bag that can hold the whole person), or other life support equipment, you can Stay in place and wait for the rain to pass. If you do not have a survival bag, you must not stay in place and leave quickly.
·If you have a map with you, check for danger zones. For example, dense contour lines indicate steep cliffs that should be detoured.
·The direction of the stream shows the route down the mountain, but don’t go close to the stream, because the water from the mountain is very strong in eroding the channel, and the banks are very steep. Therefore, you should follow the sound of the water down the mountain along the stream.
· Keep an eye out for farmhouses or other sheltered places as you descend, as hiding places are often found near trails.
·Don’t go near depressions with light green, spike-like grass, which are likely swamps.
Get lost at night and save yourself
·If there is moonlight and you can see your surroundings, you should try to walk towards the road or farmhouse.
·If you are in a dark mountain and cannot see your surroundings clearly, do not continue walking, but find a hiding place, such as a wall or the leeward side of a rock.
·If it has a life support bag, it should be drilled into it. Several people huddled together to keep warm. In this way, you can survive cold nights even without a survival bag. The middle position is the warmest and should therefore translocate to each other from time to time.
Get lost in the snow
Terrain blurs when snow reflects white light the same color as the sky; horizon, altitude, depth, and shadows completely hidden. Mountain climbers and explorers call this phenomenon “white skies”.
· At this point, it’s best to stop and wait for the milky sky to disappear. If there is a storm coming while waiting, you should hollow out the snowdrift to make a pit, or expand the snow pit at the root of the tree, and then hide in.
·If there is a life support bag, put leaves and dry grass behind it to separate the cold ground, and then hide.
· Wear as many layers of clothing as possible. If the outermost layer of clothing has buttons or zippers, first button it, zip it up, and then put it on the upper body.
·Cross your arms inside your garment, with your palms tucked under your armpits to keep warm.
·If you must keep going, use the map and compass to find your way. Throw the snowball forward as you walk, noting where and how the snowball lands to detect the slope of the slope. If the snowball is gone, there may be a cliff ahead.
Get lost in the fog
·Take out the map, turn to the same direction as the compass, and decide which direction to go.
· Follow the compass, look in the direction you want to go, and choose an easily recognizable target, such as rocks, trees, fern leaves, etc. Walk towards the target and follow the compass to find another target ahead.
· Use this method continuously until you get out of the fog lock.
·If you don’t have a map or compass, you should stay put and wait for the fog to clear.
Directions without a map
It’s possible to find your way to a safe place without a map and compass.
First of all, consider whether you can return to the road you just walked.
When it is impossible to go back, observe the environment. If you see a road or something that must be connected by the road, such as houses, telephone poles, etc., you should walk towards it.
If you can roughly infer where you are from the geographic features around you, go to the nearest road, trail, railway, river, etc. Pay attention to the roadside scenery as you move forward, and estimate how far you have come.
Targets such as roads, rivers, etc. that are perpendicular to the forward route are the best choices, because they can be found even if they deviate slightly from the original route.
The roads, power lines, and telephone lines are regularly inspected, and you won’t have to wait long to meet people who will help you find your way.
If you cannot find reliable geographical features, you can use the sun to tell the direction to decide which direction to go.
At noon, the sun in the northern hemisphere is south at the zenith and in the southern hemisphere it is north at the zenith.
If the sun is blocked by clouds, hold a small knife blade or the edge of a nail file upright on a shiny surface such as a plastic credit card or thumb nail, and look for light shadows on the surface. The sun is in the opposite direction of the shadow.
A watch that has hands and is calibrated to local time can be oriented as follows:
Lay the watch flat with the hour hand pointing at the sun and imagine a line connecting the hour hand to the sun. The angle at 12 o’clock is divided into two. For example, if it is 4pm, the bisector will pass through 2pm. This bisector will point due south in the northern hemisphere and due north in the southern hemisphere.
If the clouds are thick and you cannot see the sun, you can observe the fresh moss on the tree trunks or rocks. The moss usually grows in the backlight, in the northern hemisphere, the side facing north or northeast has more moss, and in the southern hemisphere, the side facing south or southeast has more moss. However, using moss to guess the direction is not accurate, so if there is sunlight passing through the clouds, the sun should be used to determine the direction.
If you need to stay in place for a while, you can erect a stick on the flat ground to measure the direction. Every hour or so, make a mark in the shadow on the top of the stick, and line the marks so that they point east and west.